The central exhibition titled « Art + Jewel: Intersecting Spaces » is hosted by the Benaki Museum of Piraeus Str. and has exclusivity
in participation of 48 selected artists of contemporary jewelry from Greece and abroad. Also this year, the important German artist Peter Bauhuis honors the event as a guest and exhibits his work in the central exhibition area.

Contemporary jewelry meets the Athenian audience in a 4-day art event with international participations.

For a second year in a row, Athens Jewelry Week opens its doors to welcome its guests. The objective of this new and dynamic institution is to present to the Greek audience the trends and the rich diversity of contemporary art jewelry, as they have been evolving in Greece and abroad.

In the framework of the international jewelry scene, the organization constitutes the Greek presence on the world map of equivalent art events with an ever increasing interest. AJW 2017 covers four days of exhibitions, lectures and workshops, highlighting contemporary jewelry creators, their art and their authentic work.

The central exhibition titled “Art + Jewelry: Intersecting Spaces” is hosted this year by the Benaki Museum (Pireos Annexe) and it aims to present the exceptional work of 48 selected artists. The influential German jewelry maker Peter Bauhuis, invited as a guest artist, will honor the event with his presence, by exhibiting his work in the main exhibition hall and by opening the lectures program.

AJW 2017 also includes 5 group exhibitions that will take places in various venues around Athens, lectures and seminars. The closing of the event will be marked by the awards ceremony. Awards will be given by international institutions/entities that are active in the contemporary jewelry field.

Athens Jewelry Week – organized by Anticlastics, a group of contemporary jewelry creators – aims, among other things, at introducing the art of contemporary jewelry to the broader public. It is addressed to artists and art aficionados of all ages and backgrounds, but mostly to all those who love contemporary art jewelry and want to learn more about it. Because -as the poet W.B. Yeats would say- « The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper ».

(Lost) Paradise, with Ying Chen« As a jewellery artist, I believe my work is the bridge connecting myself with the outside world, which shows my thoughts, inner feeling and philosophy. What reflect on me from outside? How do I reply to it? I address my answers by making the questions tangible and personal. Fortress Besieged is one of my projects. The whole project is about my thought and feeling of the renovation in my city. “Shikumen”, the typical kind of buildings in Shanghai which I used to live, has been replaced by high-rises. I can not help but doubt, whether the demolition of Shikumen is necessary. Shikumen is like a paradise of all the memories from dwellers who have spent most of their time in Shikumen. However, their opinion was neglected. My work shows my inner struggle and sadness in the journey of finding the right answer. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Selma Leal« The piece ‘Danger… woodworm!’ it is part of the exhibition ‘Life in the Urban Paradise’ , which was born from a previous collection, ‘Cities’. Nowadays, urban parks and public gardens are a safe haven. They are green areas where we can relax and recover the energy we nees for life. This piece is a subtle critique our society, because I think the man is the woodworm of the planet. Love the planet is to love ourselves. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Victoria Ioannidou.« Ominus, Pesimistic,Disapointing, contradicting,negative messages deprive the oxygene from our little but important beings.. However there is a small spark of hope far away that fills our dull lifes with color and light. My own paradise is my concern to strengthen the spark ,prevent and restrain the evil.. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Viktoria Münzker« Breathless attention fills two parts of a complex called life. Tenderness and violence, love and hate, harmony and conflict, birth and death, heaven and hell. The emotional side of my work is based on my personal experiences. Suggestions for the creation of Paradise were my emotional forces, experiences and mental images. Paradise – Garden of Eden from that we were expelled forever, and what we must now create alone. This term, in old Sumerian « Adina » – Garden means a place that seemed to be fruitful… Did we lost it? This land is real, it is an another dimension in this world, the real paradise can’t be lost. It is inside of us. If we believe that we are a part of it, there will always be a place that we call paradise. Jewellery is my art to show the world my own inner self, the inner world where I feel safe and beautiful. It’s the inner paradise that survives only with our power. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Sergio Stefano Spivach « The Archangel into pieces / THE BODY, THE HEART, THE WING The falling Archangel, crashing into pieces, is the metaphor of man who is walking on a road paved of self-destruction. Falling on lost paradise, The Archangel crashes into pieces: his heart moves from the body in order to survive – aware that his own wing will lead himself safe. On the contrary, the body will wear down gradually. The stone we have used for creating the three parts of The Archangel testifies, with its color and its porosities, the consequences of its own closeness with the human being. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Nanna MellandLost Paradises. In 1977 Bob Marley sang; “Exodus, movement of Jah people!” His words could not fit better for the situation of refugees today. Masses of people in a seemingly endless flow, leaving their home country in search of a better future somewhere else. Paradise lost. Paradise search. I chose to work with the suitcase as an object of our time. A time of flux, of movement, of wanted and unwanted journeys. It can be disturbingly absent or disturbingly present. For the exhibition Lost Paradises, I present a serie of rings called Suitcaserings. Cast in bronze in the lost wax technique, coloured afterwards. You need strength to wear and balance these heavy skin coloured Suitcaserings on your hand, A strong grip to get by in this world of suffering. Of Lost Paradises. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Sébastien Carré « Just imagine… Living in a world in which we would not have destroyed our relationship to nature. In which, the society, the moral, the value or our belief would not have put us in a virtual cell. A world of difference, of similarity, of ambiguity but after all isn’t it what is making a more interesting world. Vegetation, Animal, and Mineral are all combined in objects reminiscent of organic forms, the shape of the central figure in all form of shamanism around the world, the Tree that connects us all together. Mixing materials in order to create a symbolic life in an object by using interactive mediums allows me to wake up a body which tends to be more insensitive due to an over-communicativity of society. Let’s hope for a world with more shamanism, more bound between all living forms. Let’s Cherish the diversity in our small world, being together is already a treasure. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Rosa Borredá« LOST CIVILIZATIONS Accumulation of different objects left over the centuries that are worn, eroded by time. Ancient architectures with traces of gold leaf and polychromy. Lush vegetation but withered at the same time. Paradise and decay, everything has a place in the lost and imaginary paradises. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Claudia Steiner « The earth as the ideal for a happy and content existence, with indescribable natural beauty. Is this still true? This is not the case anywhere in the world. It is precisely our time that makes us doubt whether or not this is indeed true. Everyone has their own ideas of paradise and can explore it in a variety of ways. Sometimes with the look at hidden details sometimes viewed at large. The contrasts of geometric lines and round forms, the uneven surface, reflect the contrasting variety of our earth. The way to the personal paradise in life is different and sometimes requires detours, means unevenness in the life cycle – one up and down – in order to somehow have found his personal ideal of a happy and content life. Not everything is at first sight recognizable as such, some « paradise » requires a longer confrontation with it and will only be discovered in small. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Xenia Deimezi “The youth love, Pure and unconditional, almost dreamy, full of emotions and passion but also temporary. Now kept as a memory, idealized and distant. My beautiful secret (lost) paradise.”

(Lost) Paradise, with Michelle Kraemer « Up and above in a far away land exploring an unreachable world dreaming of landscapes and possibilities… unreachable but with imagination so close yet so far that’s where I want to go… to be among these ethereal, ephemeral entities to touch them, to make them mine to materialize them into my own imagined reality »

(Lost) Paradise, with Philip Sajet « paradise is nothing other than time passing sense that we realize that as time passes »

(Lost)Paradise, with Heidemarie Herb « Since some years I’m working on the collection « time ». Keys are like magic tools, they open and close doors,diaries, treasures….they preserve secrets, memories and thoughts. You can meet positive or negative feelings…once again this opposites are attractions in my work. »

(Lost) Paradise, withFabienne Christyn « I’ll go sleep in the white paradise Where the nights are so long that we forget the time All alone with the wind As in my childhood dreams I will go running in the white paradise Far from the looks of hatred And fighting blood Find whales Talking to silverfish Like, like, like before M.Berger »

(Lost) Paradise, with Nadine Smith « I live in Wellington and work part time as an artist and nurse. Caring for others has developed my fundamentally humanist philosophy. Fueled by this and the fragility of life, pieces often reference the relationship we have with the developing technological world and how this creates possibilities for enhancement or re-creation of our environment, our lives, even ourselves. Being an avid recycler with magpie tendencies and an active imagination lends itself to a diverse range of work. Medical and other recycled paraphernalia when used out of context can create a tension between the familiar and the unknown. The works aim to intrigue, inviting the audience to reflect and make connections from their own life experiences. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Eleanor Symms « Demolition Neckpiece This piece is made using found electrical components gathered at the beach beside Cockenzie coal-fired power station, along the coast from my home. The power station, which dominated the coastline since the 1960s, was demolished in 2015. It was the cause of much pollution, changing the nature of the coastline, creating miles of new land with infill of the spoil it generated and leaving huge ‘lagoons’ of fly ash, some of which are now reserves for birds and wildlife. The power station destroyed a wild, natural coastal habitat, but nature is slowly reclaiming the site. In using found plastic components from the site, which have been sea and weather-worn in combination with silver and opals, I aim to question notions of preciousness and disposability. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Mar Sanchez « Return to origin. We yearn for happiness, seek peace, love. And, generally, we seek outside ourselves. I suspect none of this depends on external circumstances. My heart tells me that the lost paradise is inside me, waiting to be found. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Wiebke Pandikow« Without the ubiquitous plastic our civilization could hardly have become what it is today, but at the same time it is a burden on the environment with far-reaching consequences. Especially plastic bags are an obvious symbol for mindless consumerism and a throw-away society. This makes them so interesting for me to work with, to create from them, with the help of a clothes iron and a soldering iron, textures and structures that recall forms of the natural world which we have set ourselves apart from. Hand-formed leaves form lush necklaces, but they can only ever be pale images of the real thing. We feel safe with plastics, at home and comfortable in our modern paradise of artificiality. But it is the natural world around us which is the real paradise, in danger of becoming a paradise lost. »

(Lost) Paradise, with Mabel Pena « My natural paradise, my oasis, flows the meandering waters of the Parana River Delta. I find no better place to muse about life and to relax than when I am rowing my boat in this maze of water and rainforest. Every concern or fear seems to vanish while I row my way through this cluster of islands. Nature in all its glory to admire: golden water, green trees and vines and colorful birds. This brooch illustrates the landscape of this Delta, its colors and textures, and the feelings it arises in me. »

(Lost) Paradise, withIsabelle Busnel « Black jewellery is often associated with mourning jewellery. This collection is inspired by Victorian jewellery and relates to any loss in life, or in Paradise… »

(Lost) Paradise, with Helmi Lindblom « Fruitfully Yours, extinction With this work I focus on today’s paradox: simultaneous population growth and entering the sixth mass extinction. Jewelry from Extinction are silent in comparison to their colorful opposites (Fertility) like extinction is silent in comparison to birth. With color contrast from black balloons I want to put forth the feel of fading away. «